Tony Abbott and lobbying – choc horror!

The singular outstanding question of Australian politics today is: how embedded is
Tony Abbott
in the NSW cross-party disease of lobbyist-induced scandal? At this stage, he should be given the benefit of the doubt.

While, as the senior NSW Liberal MP, the Prime Minister would have been to scores of fundraising dinners with the likes of
Nick Di Girolamo
and
Nabil Gazal snr
, there is no evidence of him being tainted in the same way as
Arthur Sinodinos
,
Barry O’Farrell
,
Chris Hartcher
and
Mike Gallacher
.

Factionally, as a prominent right-winger, Abbott has been opposed to the party’s dominant left-wing grouping – the authors of the corrupt powerbroker-parliamentarian-lobbyist model.

The Prime Minister has been aligned with the Liberal pro-democracy campaigners and political cleanskins,
John Ruddick
and
Ross Cameron
(a former federal MP). Cameron has enjoyed the odd scandal in his time, but none of it monetary in nature.

Nonetheless, there have been two worrying black marks against Abbott’s integrity – signs that he can be muddle-headed in dealing with industry lobbyists. The first was his appointment of Sinodinos as assistant treasurer last September, when the dogs were already barking about the Australian Water Holdings imbroglio.

The second was his approval of
Alistair Furnival
as chief of staff to the Assistant Health Minister,
Fiona Nash
. This is an instructive case study into how the federal government deals with lobbyists.

At the time of Furnival’s appointment in late 2013, the commonwealth, state and territory health departments were working on a new nutritional labelling system for processed food – displaying “star" ratings on the front of supermarket products, so that consumers could be better informed about their purchases. In large part, the scheme was a response to Australia’s obesity epidemic.

Not surprisingly, the processed food industry opposed the measure. If the public had clearer warnings about some of the things they were buying off supermarket shelves, they might eat more fruit and vegetables. In Furnival, they found a champion for their cause. He had previously worked for Cadbury and Mondelez International (a Kraft brand).

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While serving on Nash’s staff, he maintained a directorship and 50 per cent ownership of Strategic Issues Management (SIM), a company which wholly owned Australian Public Affairs (APA). The other half of SIM was owned by Furnival’s wife,
Tracey Ann Cain
. APA was listed on the government’s lobbyist register, with Mondelez and the Australian Beverages Council among its clients. Apparently, Abbott saw no problem with Furnival’s obvious conflict of interest: owning a lobbying company with food industry clients, while also working for a minister responsible for food regulation.

On February 6, Furnival’s conflict played out in practice. The Health Star Rating System was loaded onto the internet, the first stage in the scheme’s implementation. Furnival phoned an assistant secretary in the Health Department and demanded that the website be taken down. The public servant refused. Nash then contacted a deputy secretary who arranged for the ratings system to be removed.Not surprisingly, a political scandal emerged, forcing Furnival’s resignation. Despite misleading the Senate about the connection between her chief of staff and APA, Nash kept her job.

Another aspect of Furnival’s background needs to be mentioned: his role in securing a $16 million federal grant for the Cadbury chocolate factory in Hobart. Despite warning the nation of a “budget emergency", Abbott found enough money in the Coalition’s draft fiscal plan to promise the subsidy during the 2013 election campaign.

Twelve months earlier, Furnival had lobbied the Tasmanian Labor government to secure taxpayer funds for the chocolate maker, a proposal subsequently abandoned by Cadbury in favour of Federal money.

When the Liberal leader launched his Willy Wonka policy on 28 August, Furnival was part of the official party, Abbott later describing him as the company’s “economist".

Earlier this year, as the new government faced a number of difficult industry decisions, increasingly, the Cadbury grant appeared incongruous. Whereas the Coalition ruled out subsidies for Australia’s ailing car industry and an embattled fruit-cannery in Victoria, it was willing to support a Tasmanian chocolate factory. The political class was left wondering: what did Cadbury have that other parts of the manufacturing sector lacked? The answer was Furnival’s personal relationship with Abbott.

Most notably, the lobbyist had participated in the Liberal leader’s annual Pollie Pedal charity ride, with Cadbury providing financial sponsorship.

Pollie Pedal is a real Boy’s Own adventure, a week-long male bonding exercise, in which the participants cycle from town to town, spreading the gospel of Saint Tony. The riders pride themselves on sleeping rough and refusing to “break camp".

This was the perfect setting for Abbott and Furnival to form a genuine affinity. Certainly, they had a lot in common, with both men deeply religious and politically conservative. The Cadbury grant was an example of economic preferment, money for political interests close to Abbott.

At least the Coalition’s industry policies have had one beneficial spin-off. From the awarding of the Cadbury grant and the abolition of the food ratings system, Abbott has provided a huge boost to bicycle sales in Australia.

He now has a long queue of corporate executives and would-be sponsors wanting to participate in future bike rides. Look out for the Tour de Furnival, greasing the wheels of government, coming soon to a town or suburb near you. Abbott has given new, literal meaning to the notion of influence peddling.